Main Content

[7-E-Volvo-Layoffs]

[ANCHOR=Melanie]

Another area company is decreasing its workforce. Volvo has announced it will lay off 400 employees at its Dublin plant after the first of the year.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]

The Vice President of Manufacturing issued this letter to employees yesterday, stating cutbacks were necessary because of a decline in orders for new trucks.
[SUPER=03-Dublin/File Tape]

Despite the company's confirmation of the layoffs - the local 20-69 United Auto Workers Union said that talks of layoffs are just rumors, and an official said the Union won't respond until it's definite.
A company spokesman Phil Romba says the company's expansion plans are still on track.
Volvo Trucks employs about 32-hundred people, and took on 700 new workers this year alone.
(------------)

[7-E-SB-Tultex]

400 employees of Tultex's South Boston plant may have to look for new jobs.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-South Boston;]

Tultex shut down sewing operations at its South Boston plant last week. It was the ONLY plant where Tultex garments were made in the U-S.
Workers heading to the employment office are finding that without Tultex, South Boston's job market is tight.
Even before the layoffs, the area had one of the highest unemployment rates in the state-- nearly 7 percent.
(------------)

[7-Pittston]

The company that operates 30 mines in Virginia, West Virginia, and Kentucky has decided to sell its coal operations.
Pittston spent 70 years in the coal business.
Company officials say the liabilities and performance of the coal industry prompted the decision.
The company will focus on its Brink's armored car and home security businesses and its B-A-X Global transportation and freight business.

[7-XGR-Women]

The number of women in the state of Virginia is greater than the number of men, but the newly-elected Virginia General Assembly is only 16-percent female.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Richmond/File Tape;]

And two of its senior-most women members will NOT be back.
One chaired the House committee on Corporations, Insurance, and Banking.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT 15:01:11]
[IN Q=It's inside]
((DEL. VIOLA BASKERVILLE/D-RICHMOND: IT'S INSIDE BASEBALL FOR US WHO ARE IN THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY, DAY IN DAY OUT, DURING THE SESSION, BUT SOMETIMES THAT INFORMATION, AS FAR AS HOW THINGS WORK AND WHO'S IN A POSITION TO MAKE SOME POWERFUL DECISIONS, DOESN'T NECESSARILY GET OUT TO THE VOTERS.))
[SUPER=01-Del. Viola Baskerville/(D) Richmond; ]
[RUNS=:16]
[OUT Q=to the voters.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]

But some argue that women don't really need to hold elective office to have their interests protected.
(/////SOT/////)
[SOT 10:09:42]
[IN Q=You know]
((ROBIN DEJARNETTE/FAMILY FOUNDATION: YOU KNOW, ALL THESE MEN HAVE WIVES, AND MOTHERS, AND DAUGHTERS THAT THEY CARE VERY DEEPLY ABOUT.))
[SUPER=01-Robin DeJarnette/Family Foundation; ]
[RUNS=:05]
[OUT Q=deeply about.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]

Virginia's population is 51-percent female.
The House of Delegates is now 15-percent female.
20-percent of state senators are women.
(------------)

[45-E-City-Council]

It's a controversial issue in Roanoke, raises for city council members.
But at least one neighborhood leader believes council members deserve a pay increase.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke]

Bob Caudle is the president of the Greater Deyerle (DYE-uhr-lee) Neighborhood Association.
He was the only speaker at the latest public hearing on the issue.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT 59:03]
[IN Q=I think they ought to make]
((BOB CAUDLE/ROANOKE RESIDENT: I THINK THEY OUGHT TO MAKE AS MUCH AS THE STATE WILL ALLOW THEM TO MAKE. I'LL SAY IT PUBLICLY AND IF I NEED TO HEAD UP THAT COMMITTEE, I'D BE GLAD TO DO IT.))
[SUPER=01-Bob Caudle/Roanoke Resident]
[RUNS=:10]
[OUT Q=be glad to do it.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]

The mayor of Roanoke currently receives an annual salary of 18- thousand dollars.
Council members earn 14- thousand.
State law allows a salary of up to 25- thousand dollars for the mayor, and up to 23- thousand for others on council.
(------------)
[ANCHOR=Melanie]
[GRAPHIC=HOLD]

If they decide to move forward with the proposal, council members must act before the end of the year.

[45-E-Richwood]

The owner of a Botetourt County nursing home is under investgiation for possibly stealing money from residents.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Botetourt Co.;]
The Richwood Home serves about 29 elderly and handicapped adults.
Deputies say residents sign their monthly checks over to the home's owner, Caren Simpson.
They're supposed to have about 34 to 54 dollars leftover from state subsidies each month to spend on personal items.
But the State Licensing Board found more than 12-hundred-dollars missing from patients' accounts in October.
Deputies seized almost 50 documents from Richwood Home yesterday and say they may file charges within the next two weeks.
(------------)

[45-E-Domestic-Violence]

There appears to be no immediate cure for the epidemic of domestic violence.
But some changes in hospital emergency rooms may make it easier to diagnose and treat.
Emergency room doctors and nurses at Carilion Roanoke Community Hospital are now trained to collect significant data from patients.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-Roanoke; ]

The forensic nurse examiners program in the emergency department is a starting point to help victims of abuse talk about the problem.
Nurses there are trying a new approach to screen every patient that comes in for partner abuse.
(///// SOT /////)
[SOT tc 02:54:07]
[IN Q=We are establishing]
((DEBBIE DAVIDSON/FORENSIC NURSE EXAMINER: WE ARE ESTABLISHING A MORE UNIVERSAL SCREENING SO THAT WOMEN WHEN THEY COME IN WE CAN ROUTINELY ASK THEM SIMPLE QUESTIONS, ARE YOU AFRAID IN YOUR HOME?, ARE YOU EVER HURT BY THOSE YOU LIVE WITH? AND THOSE KIND OF QUESTIONS WILL HELP OPEN THE DOOR.))
[SUPER=01-Debbie Davidson/Forensic Nurse Examiner;]
[RUNS=:20]
[OUT Q=open the door.]
(------------)
[VO-NAT]

A recent study in the Journal of the American Medical Association found only 10-percent of primary care physicians routinely screen patients for intimate partner abuse when not injured.
(------------)

[45weather]

Taking a moment now to check the forecast...
Sunny and breezy today, with northwesterly winds and highs in the lower 50s.
Staying mostly clear overnight, with lows around 30.
And looking ahead to the next five days...sunshine lingering through Thursday...with increasing clouds on Friday.

[8-Hog-Farming]

The hog farming debate in Campbell County continues, and many farmers are not happy with the latest effort to make it harder for those controversial hog farms to move in.
Steve Smallshaw has more.
[SOT]
[IN Q=The original idea]
[SUPER=03-Campbell Co.; :00]
[SUPER=01-Hugh Pendleton/Campbell Co. Supervisor; :19]
[SUPER=01-Calvin Carter/Campbell Co. Supervisor; :26]
[SUPER=01-Hugh Rosser/Campbell Co. Supervisor; :49]
[SUPER=01-Carter Elliott/Dairy Farmer; 1:03]
[SUPER=@ssm1; 1:15]
[RUNS=1:25]
[OUT Q=Smallshaw, News7.]
(( The original idea was to closely regulate large- scale farms.. in particular swine breeding operations.. and make it harder for a potential hog farm to move into Campbell County.
Three supervisors said there was no need to include dairy and cattle in that definition.
[SOT 21:53:12]
((HUGH PENDLETON/CAMPBELL CO. SUPERVISOR: I SEE NO NEED FOR RESTRICTIONS AT THIS TIME ON CATTLE OR DAIRY, AND THAT'S WHY I LEFT THEM OUT OF THE MOTION.))
[RUNS= 07]
[OUT Q=the motion.]
[SOT 21:59:19]
((CALVIN CARTER/CAMPBELL CO. SUPERVISOR: I FEEL LIKE WE SHOULD NOT PUT ANY HAMSTRING AROUND THE FARMERS' NECK, THAT'S WHERE WE GET OUR DAILY FOOD FROM.))
[RUNS= 07]
[OUT Q=food from.]

But Pendleton's motion failed.. and after making some minor changes, the board adopted the original ordinance that sets limits on the number of animals a facility can hold and how close it can be to nearby homes.
The four supervisors who voted for it say the county's farmers will never notice the difference.
[SOT 21:48:20]
((HUGH ROSSER/CAMPBELL CO. SUPERVISOR: I DON'T SEE HOW IT'S GOING TO AFFECT MYSELF OR YOU AS FAMILY OPERATORS ON YOUR FARM.))
[RUNS= 09]
[OUT Q=on your farm.]

But farmers say they're now paying the price for the well- publicized sins of the hog industry.
[SOT 21:51:34]
((CARTER ELLIOTT/DAIRY FARMER: AN INTENSIVE FARMER IS STILL A FAMILY FARM, AND WE OPERATE ON SO MANY MORE REGULATIONS THAN DOES A NON- INTENSIVE FARMER, AND I THINK REALLY A LOT OF THE BOARD MEMBERS STILL DON'T UNDERSTAND THIS.))
[RUNS= 11]
[OUT Q=don't understand this.]
[Standup ]
((Farmers have threatened to take the board of supervisors to court if the ordinance passed. There was no word, however, after the meeting whether that will be their next move. Steve Smallshaw, News7.))
[RUNS= 10]
[OUT Q=Smallshaw, News7.]))

[8-E-Volvo-Layoffs]

400 workers at the Volvo plant in Dublin learned yesterday that they will begin the new millenium without a job.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]

The Vice President of Manufacturing issued this letter to employees yesterday, stating cutbacks were necessary because of a decline in orders for new trucks.
[SUPER=03-Dublin/File Tape]

Despite the company's confirmation of the layoffs - the local 20-69 United Auto Workers Union said that talks of layoffs are just rumors, and an official said the Union won't respond until it's definite.
A company spokesman Phil Romba says the company's expansion plans are still on track.
Volvo Trucks employs about 32-hundred people, and took on 700 new workers this year alone.
(------------)

[8-E-SB-Tultex]

400 employees of the Tultex plant in South Boston will have to look for new jobs.
(------------)
[VO-NAT]
[SUPER=03-South Boston;]

Tultex shut down sewing operations at its South Boston plant last week. It was the ONLY plant where Tultex garments were made in the U-S.
Workers heading to the employment office are finding that without Tultex, South Boston's job market is tight.
Even before the layoffs, the area had one of the highest unemployment rates in the state-- nearly 7 percent.
(------------)

[8weather]

Let's take a break from the news to look at today's weather...
Sunny, with a cool northwesterly breeze and highs of 50 to 55.
Mostly clear overnight, with calm winds and lows around 30.
Looking ahead at the extended forecast.... sunny for the next couple of days, but clouding up by Friday.
Highs in the 50s...lows in the 20s and 30s.
[SUPER=X5000; set dissolve]
[SUPER=314-Sunny & Breezy/Winds NW 10-15/50-55/Mostly Clear/Calm Wind/28-32;]
[SUPER=#555; reset]